Recently, I met a girl who I immediately recognised as the current girlfriend of one of my short-lived exes. She was wearing a cute dress and was bright, friendly and funny.
Against the advice of my friends, I told her about our “sausage sister” connection. Amazingly enough, she did not lunge at me and maul my face off. Instead, she broke into a smile and said, “No way, I’m so glad you told me!”
I initially bonded with one of my closest friends under similar circumstances. We’d been acquaintances for years but were never close – until she dated my first boyfriend after me, and asked me to dinner following their breakup. The meal started with awkward small talk, but when we addressed the elephant in the room, the walls between us melted as I offered her advice based on how I’d gotten over the same guy years earlier. Two years on, we catch up whenever we’re in the same city, and chat frequently on Facebook. We barely ever talk about him now.